November
30
November
30
Digital Citizenship Meets The OJCS Reading Challenge!
This year the OJCS Reading Challenge is designed to make reading fun, encourage our students to reach for new reading goals, and to teach digital citizenship while connecting globally.
We will be getting students to participate in the class creation of tweets, instagram posts, youtube videos or tik tok videos (whatever social media formats the teacher prefers, the accounts are owned and regulated by the teacher and are professional (not personal) accounts). These posts will share their class reading goals and accomplishments in fun and creative ways. The class will then check those posts regularly for likes and words of encouragement from around the globe. They may even be able to connect with other schools participating in their own reading challenge. Students will also use their blogs as a place to post book reviews and to blog about their personal reading goals. They can even embed or link the class social media posts directly to their blogs!
Class goals could include a certain number of books read by the class each week or each month, a certain number of books of a specific genre or a variety of genres read, etc… These goals are determined by the teacher or decided as a class and can change week to week or month to month.
Students love being online, so this is a way for them to practice their digital citizenship with post creation (spelling, hashtags, using photos and videos in posts) and take pride in their reading accomplishments, as well as get global props and encouragement.
The end-of-year prize is a classroom movie party for each class that participated regularly. The library will provide popcorn and candy for each class.
November
26
OJCS Storytime – Experiencing Mindfulness
November
19
OJCS Storytime – Time to Hibernate! (I wish!)
Today we learn about animals in Winter and hibernation!
We read:
-Animals in Winter by Stephane Poulin
-Animals that Sleep in Winter by Gwynne Vevers, illustrated by Colin Threadgall
-Kitten’s WInter by Eugenie Fernandes
-Bear Snores on by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Activity 1: Hibernation Worksheet
Cut out the animals and match them to their Winter homes!
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Open in new tab Activity 2: Hibernation Day
This is a special day where the class comes to school in their PJs, decides what kind of animal they want to be for the activity, and creates a special place using class materials that would accurately match how and where their animal hibernates. So we don’t have a real cave, but a desk with a blanket overtop could turn into a cave. We don’t have a burrow, but we could make a burrow by piling soft materials into a corner, pretending to dig down, and snuggling in!
November
16
Learning to Assess Information Credibility with my Favourite Tree Octopus
A Fun Lesson for our grades 3-5 students
Each student will need a device for this activity. You will share the link to the following site with your students.
https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
Teachers will then need to print the web evaluation checklist. Click the button on the upper right hand corner ‘pop out’. Only print page 1. Students will fill it in to determine if this website is credible or not.
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When they have formed their conclusions, you can explain that the last step, lateral reading, is often the fastest way to fact-check information and can be your FIRST step. Running a Google search on the topic and or the author or site name can often provide you with everything you need to know. And following the rule of three, checking information against two other sources, is also a wonderful strategy to use.
Finish by sharing this great video!
November
12
OJCS Storytime – Super Silly Scholastic Storytime
To celebrate our upcoming Scholastic Virtual Bookfair on November 30th, today we read three super silly Scholastic books –
The Great Puppy Invasion by Alastair Heim, illustrated by Kim Smith
A Couch for Llama by Leah Gilbert
Hello, My Name is Octicorn by Kevin Diller, Justin Lowe, and Binny Talib
We have a very special guest storyteller today! Thank you so much for sharing this hilarious book Mia! Her book is also a Scholastic title and will be available for purchase at the book fair.
Our Activity – Design your own Unicorn Hybrid
-Draw a unicorn hybrid. This can be any silly animal with a unicorn horn. Spidercorn? Kangacorn? They sky is the limit. What does it eat? What does it do for fun?
November
6
Information Credibility Slides Lesson
Learning to identify misinformation, disinformation, deepfakes and other baloney
I recently created this lesson on information credibility for our OJCS middle schoolers in the interactive format of Nearpod. I am posting the slides version here for students and teachers far and wide to use. Our young people need this now more than ever!
November
3
Remembrance Day – A Poppy Is to Remember
A Poppy Is to Remember by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightburn
This story is for our grades 3-8 students
Discussion Questions
- What are your feelings when you pin on your poppy? Is there something you think about specifically?
- Remembrance day is about remembering. What are all of the things we can and should try to remember on this day?
- Have any of you attended the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa? Please share about this experience with the class.
Ottawa’s National War Memorial
November
3
OJCS Storytime – Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion
This story is for our K-2 students
Proud as a Peacock, Brave as a Lion by Jane Barclay, illustrated by Renne Benoit
Discussion Questions
- What are some of the special qualities that the boy’s grandfather has? How are they like the animals mentioned in the story?
- In the story there are times when the grandfather feels sad. Do we understand why he might feel sad?
- Why is it important that we be like elephants and wear our poppies?